Padilla Bay

After I finished my Disney internship, I got a job with the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. From late May to mid November, I was able to work with some really really cool people and I was (and still am) so grateful for the opportunity to learn the things that I did.

Officially, I worked for the Department of Ecology as a research technician and I did A LOT of seagrass sorting. To make a lengthy job description short: I collected seagrasses from the bay, sorted them into different species, weighed them, and created a monster database for the reserve to use when I left.

Me helping with sea star and barnacle counts on Saddlebag Island:

Seagrass collections and density counts at low tide in the mudflats:

When the low tide was at night during collections, we played with sharks!

Sneak peak of my seagrass sorting:

On the left: What a PVC ring should look like when it comes out of the oven.

On the right: What happens when I'm left in the lab unsupervised with an oven.

We switched to aluminum rings shortly after this because they can withstand the heat much better.

The reserve received an octopus rescue in the fall and I snuck up on it one night before we went out to the mudflats:

Et Cetera

I'm back! I didn't really go anywhere...but life did get REALLY busy around May. Since then, I was hired by the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Eric graduated from high school, we went back to the Oregon coast, more time was spent on the boat, I took the GRE, and Terry and I moved to Bellingham - and those are just some of the major things! Another reason why I ventured back to the blogging world: internet in the condo is a major upgrade from the wireless internet at my mom's house (envision a house near the airport where a cell phone will lose service every time a plane flies overhead, a shoddy wireless box, and very questionable "high speed" service - I think it was less than 1Mbps). I swear that each post would take 20 minutes to load.

I didn't even know where to start for an update, so I decided that an "et cetera" post was appropriate. That way, I could cram some of the miscellaneous photos from the last few months into a somewhat scattered layout.

First, right before I was hired by Padilla Bay, I ran in a 10K race in Mt. Vernon. Those of you who know me well could tell anyone about my serious running habits - I go every morning, no exceptions. However, I suffered a mystery ankle injury in 2010 that sidelined me for 12 months. I may have ground my teeth down to nubs in frustration, but I did eventually find the root of the problem. I went through several doctors who had ideas ranging from a stress fracture to tendonitis. Nothing worked. After a recommendation from my grandma, I saw a podiatrist who took two minutes to look at the calluses on my feet and gave me the easiest solution I could have hoped for. I now have a rather expensive pair of shoes and inserts to align my ankles when I run. In March of 2011, after a year of irritation and break downs, I trained last minute for a 10K race to try to get myself back into shape. It just felt SO GOOD to be able to run again. In the beginning of May, I snagged third place in the Have a Heart run and I haven't stopped running since. My shoes don't even have a year of use and I already need another pair.

This is a hug at the start line with my mom. She ran the 2 mile race and I continued.

In June, Eric graduated from high school.

Summer fire pit s'mores. They made me take a break from studying for the GRE. Someone should have told me what a bad idea it was to take the GRE at the end of August. I spent so many summer weekends trying to learn vocabulary - do this in the winter!